The First Day of the Rest of My Life
by HeartOfDarkess
Summary: Diary of a first time father.  My contribution to Fandom for Preemies fundraiser. Edward's take on Bella giving birth and his thoughts and feelings.  Edward/Bella.  One shot.  Please read and review xx


**This one-shot was part of the fundraiser for Fandom for Preemies...a wonderful fundraiser that raised $5300.00 which will go towards a very worthy cause. Thank you to all who contributed and received the entire compilation. This oneshot, loosely based on my own personal experience when giving birth to my twins, was my little contribution. Premature births have touched my life on more than one occasion, and I wanted to help any way I could to help the cause.**

**Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Twilight, but this story is a little bit about my life, and only the names (and the gender of one of the babies) has been changed.**

FANDOM FOR PREEMIES CONTRIBUTION

Author: HeartOfDarkess

The First Day of the Rest of My Life – Diary of a First Time Father

EPOV

It had been a long hot summer. She had only stopped feeling sick three months ago, and had not stopped complaining about the heat. Poor thing. Five feet four inches tall and her tiny frame carrying twins, ready to give birth at any moment. Doctors had told her that she would go into labour early and to have our bags packed and ready. She carried them to thirty weeks gestation before blood pressure and other complications forced her admission into hospital.

I watched her closely as she put her feet up on the pillow and winced, her stomach bulging every which way as if she was ready to give birth to a baby elephant, the swelling incredible in her feet. I walked over silently and lifted her legs up, sat down at the end of the bed and placed them on my lap, rubbing her feet soothingly. She sighed and smiled, telling me how nice it felt, my thumbs rubbing the base of her foot, both of which were so swollen that she had no arches to speak of.

I stared at the woman I loved as she closed her eyes, trying to catch up on sleep that she was too uncomfortable to get in our bed for more than two hours at a time, and even less in this hospital. We had known each other, I realised, for nearly half our lives now. I had already been in a long term relationship with another girl by the age of twenty two, but she wasn't the one. We were even engaged, as being together as long as we had made me feel like it was the right thing to do, but something was missing from our relationship. Not long after our engagement, we parted. I just did not have the depth of feeling that I knew I needed to marry her. My family was more than relieved, her fiery temper actually worse than mine, which would have also made for a rocky and tempestuous marriage. And then, one year after my break up with Jessica, there she was...appearing in my life as though an apparition.

I smiled. Unlike my ex, the woman I loved did not have a temper at all, which was one of the reasons why our relationship had survived as long as it had. Her hair was long, red-brown and lustrous, and was the polar opposite to my fine, copper coloured messy tresses that were an impossibility to control. I hoped that our children would inherit her locks, and her spectacularly wide brown eyes...eyes that were hypnotic and that also held the most beautiful soul in the universe within their depths, the thick black lashes framing them to perfection. I remembered the first time those eyes met mine. The eyes of the one who would steal my heart were the one thing that drew me in, along with her alabaster skin encasing her glorious body, her face nearly glowing in the light of the nightclub. My angel. My...miracle.

It was fate really. She had another place that she normally went out to on a Friday night, but the friend that she normally went out with was away visiting family on that fateful weekend. I was staying overnight at my best friend Jasper's place, as I lived nearly an hour from where he did and he had invited me out for the night to celebrate one year being single. And then, I saw her. She sat at a table near the bar, chatting to a girlfriend, smiling and throwing her arms in the air animatedly as she spoke. The two of them were the only women there. All the rest of the females in the place looked like children, and were dressed up in a useless attempt to appear of age. Up until I saw her, I was berating my friend for bringing me to a place filled with children. Up until I saw her, my life had not even begun. Up until I saw her, my heart had never truly beaten.

She did not see me cross the room, as I approached her from behind where she sat. I leant in to her ear and asked her if she wanted a drink. She said no, but after our eyes met and we both gasped in unison, she quickly changed her mind and invited me to sit down. She laughed as she told me that at twenty one she felt old being there. I knew how she felt. I felt like a relic at the tender age of twenty three.

We spent the night talking and laughing, her friend Alice though included in the conversation, sat there quietly for much of the night as we spoke, smiling and watching. After a while, Jasper joined us, and no sooner had he done so, than we found ourselves at the table alone. We spoke of many things and discovered that we both loved the same football team, and meeting a girl that was not only stunning, but loved sports as well, made for an enticing and most attractive combination. As we got to know each other that night, finding so many things in common with one another, I had no idea what fate had in store for me, or how life altering meeting her would turn out to be. I only knew one thing. I was inexplicably drawn to her. Even now I enjoy watching sports with her, though am too old to play the football I used to love, my knee giving out on me years before I even met my love.

And so, my fate was set. I kissed her that night, but she did not believe in sleeping with someone she met on the first date, which made me more determined than ever to secure a second date with her. To my delight, she agreed to see me again and we dated regularly after that time. Though both of us were coming out of long term relationships and were not looking for anything serious, we still fell in love anyway. She was the first one to say it. She always wore her heart on her sleeve, but I always did and still do keep everything close to my chest.

We were together for eight years before we married, but had lived together and bought our house years before. She never wanted children, but when she turned thirty, she changed her mind...just like that. Mother Nature cast her spell on her and my dearest wanted a baby more than anything in the world. I always wanted children, but never pushed, and though she was a liberal thinker, she wanted to marry and have the same last name as me so that our children would also have the same last name. No hyphen, no family name of hers, just my plain, common name. I of course agreed to her request without hesitation.

I never proposed, but we had been engaged for years. Two years after moving in together, we went on our only overseas trip through Britain and Europe. On the last leg of our journey, we found ourselves at a diamond factory in Amsterdam. She really wanted a ring, and had not spent much on souvenirs for herself up till then, insisting that we spend the money on a leather jacket for me. She was and always will be selfless, and I was not about to deny her anything. When she chose the ring, she asked me which finger she should put it on, to which I answered 'any finger she wanted'. She followed me down the street and informed me that she had chosen her left ring finger, and asked me if that meant we were engaged. I wasn't about to argue with her, and felt that it was nothing but right, even though I felt regret that I did not have the foresight to propose. Instead, I just nodded, waving my arms in the air as I walked down the streets of the red light district, telling her in my own awkward way that I was more than okay with us becoming engaged. Like I said, I kept things close to my chest, and well...she was never interested in marriage. As I never really did propose to her, every now and again she would remind me of it. I'm not the most romantic man in the world, but I am loyal and very protective of the ones that I care about...and have spent every anniversary since trying to make my lack of proposal up to her. After a long engagement, we finally married in a beautiful garden, surrounded by a few family and friends, the spring flowers and warm humid day blessing our union. She never looked more beautiful on that day...well except for now anyway.

I remembered the day we first found out she was pregnant. We had been trying for six months, and every month she would buy at least one home pregnancy test kit to use earlier than she was supposed to. She never had any patience. Even at the time she had fallen pregnant, the test showed a faded dot that was so pale that she wasn't certain.

And then, things happened. Her mother was moving house to be nearer to her and she had called by the house to check on her progress after work. That's when she called me and told me that she had terrible pains whilst visiting with her mother. I was at work and helpless to do anything, so told her to go to the doctors and that I would be there as soon as I could. That was when it was confirmed that she was pregnant, and she was fine, but would have to have early ultrasounds to check and see if the baby was doing well.

It was on the second visit to the radiologist that we received the news. She was lying on the examination table, the ultrasound being performed as the radiologist kept quiet, only grunting under her breath every so often. The screen did not give any clues as to what the problem was, though I knew that something was amiss. Finally my wife asked, impatient as ever, what the verdict was and warned the radiologist to hurry up before she peed all over the examination table, her bladder filled with over a litre of water and threatening to burst. Calmly, the radiologist told her that everything was fine, but that there was some news. We were having twins. And my small world tilted on its axis once more. I smiled widely, my chest puffing with male pride, the elation on my face unable to be hidden as I absorbed the news. She stared at me and said that twins did not run in her family, her face filled with shock at the news. I was nothing but blissfully happy.

From that moment onward, all of our carefully laid plans had suddenly flown out the window. Two baby seats. Two cots. Twice the number of clothes, nappies and feedings. Those who were told the news were mostly ecstatic, however others quoted the words 'double trouble'. To that, my reply was always a friendly 'twice as nice'. It did not take long for my wife to embrace the fact that we were having two babies and realise how truly wonderful it was, citing that we always wanted two children anyway. She was always so accepting, and I loved her so much for that.

She winced in pain, shifting in the bed as I still rubbed her feet, her bloodshot eyes opening and staring at me. She was both physically and emotionally exhausted. After trying to induce labour with drugs and then trying to break her waters, she was now booked in for a caesarean section today. I was squeamish around hospitals and any blood at the best of times, but she had insisted I be there. The doctor assured me that I would be at the end where her face was, shielded from the goings on with a barrier. I was also told that if they ordered me to leave that I would have to go immediately. That thought scared me more than any blood or hospitals ever would, and I knew that I had to be strong for her. For more reasons than one. Doctors had prepared us for the possibility of a premature delivery, as with multiple births that was a likely outcome. As much as all of this information was so very overwhelming, my brave, brave girl took it all in her stride. I had never felt more love, admiration and respect for her than I had during that stressful time.

The nurses came to get her to take her for her epidural. She had chosen to remain awake through the delivery, electing for a local anaesthetic rather than general, so that she would share the one precious moment of seeing our babies for the first time right after they were born. It was safer for the babies anyhow. I kissed her goodbye and told her I would see her in theatre. She smiled and waved at me gently, as they wheeled her away, her bulging stomach the only thing I could see as she disappeared through the door and down the corridor.

Another nurse then took me to a room and gave me a set of scrubs to put on, then told me to meet them in the operating theatre, pointing towards the door where I needed to go. My nerves nearly got the best of me as I tried to put the scrubs on, my palms sweating so much that it took me what seemed forever to get ready. Finally, I walked into the theatre, and there were too many people in there to count. My wife was lying on the bed calmly, and the bottom half of her body was covered by a tent-like barrier of sheets. I stepped towards her slowly, letting out a huge gush of air and sat on a stool by her face, holding her hand in mine, gazing into those mesmerising eyes. The eyes that had brought me here...now.

Then, just like that, they began. It was quiet in a way, though the nurses and doctors there never stopped moving and speaking as they worked to bring our babies into the world. Then it happened. My world tilted once more. Elizabeth's tiny but high pitched cry echoed through the room as my hand held my wife's tighter, my body shaking in anticipation. The doctor quickly showed us the most beautiful baby girl in the universe before handing her to the attending nurse where she was quickly cleaned up and placed in the humidicrib, her coppery red curls a beautiful combination of both our hair. She was here. My daughter was here. Our precious baby girl.

My eyes widened with pride and amazement...and suddenly filled with worry and an unfathomable ache as I looked down at my wife. Though the focus of everyone was on our tiny girl at that precise moment, her mother was not doing well at all. Her eyes rolled back into their sockets and fluttered closed and in response the doctor immediately gave her oxygen, and her eyes opened as she filled her lungs with the life giving elixir. She was semi-conscious, and though she did not speak, she let out an emotional cry as her consciousness slipped away for a moment. I was told that her blood pressure had dropped, and that there was nothing to be concerned about. It did not stop me thinking for a brief moment that I could lose everything I held dear...here...on this very day...in this very room.

My thoughts of dread were broken when our son arrived. Masen's low guttural cry hit me like a bolt from the blue as the doctor presented him to me and then handed him over to the other attending nurse, the shock of thick brown hair making him look like a little replica of my beloved. Elizabeth continued her high pitched cry and my wife shushed them gently as she muttered incoherent words of love and adoration which floated across the room and to their precious ears. Masen was larger than his sister, and his deep cry caused my already swelling heart to finally burst, tears now dripping silently down my cheeks as my emotions shot through my body. My moistened eyes darted between my beloved and our children, the three of them holding my fate in their hands, and I would not have had it any other way.

They wheeled the cribs towards the door, briefly stopping next to my Bella and I. An overwhelming feeling of awe, pride, fear, uncertainty but most importantly...love...welled within me as I gazed at them all through widened eyes, and for the first time in my life I was rendered speechless.

Though we knew of the coming trials and tribulations that awaited us all, it was momentarily forgotten, for in that one incredible moment we had finally become something that I never thought possible.

A family.

**PLEASE DO ME THE HONOUR OF REVIEWING 3**


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